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\ 



ANCESTRY AND DESCENDANTS 



OF 



Lieut John lienderson, 



Of Greenbrier County, Virginia. 



1650—1900. 








7. / cs- 







1 IKUT. JOHN HENDERSON. 
I739-I787. 



ANCESTRY AND DESCENDANTS 



or 



Lieut. John Henderson, 



Of Greenbrier County, Virginia. 



1650 1900. 



From Data Collected and Arr.\ngeu bv 

His Great-GreattGrandson, 
/ 
JOSEPH LYON MILLER, M. D., 

Member of Virginia Society, Sons of the Revolution, the West Virginia 

Historical Society, and Author of Historic Homes of Old 

I 'irginia anJ other Virginia Sketches. 



^ 



RICHMOND. VA. : 
Whittet & Shepperson, General Printers 
1902. 




p. 

Avit.hor. 
tP»r»or). 






\ 



<\' 



INTRODUCTION. 



It has been well said that "the present is founded upon the 
past, and the past is our only guide to the future. If we wish 
to see before us we must turn and look into the mirror behind 
us." 

Until recently the American people, except Virginians, have 
looked upon genealogy as foolishness, gpd any one who tried to 
know something of his great-grandfather as a snob. In later 
years there has been a decided change, but even yet there is a 
host of otherwise sensible people, who still hold to this opinion. 
They will say that it is "sheer nonsense" if yoa try to interest 
them in their own ancestry, and then perhaps will talk for hours 
about the grand ten or twelve generation pedigree of some fav- 
orite horse. And why is this pedigree of interest ? Because they 
know that a horse may inherit certain qualities, and they pro- 
duce his pedigree as a guarantee that he has, or ought to have 
them. If a horse is the better for having his ancestry known, why 
not so with a man ? A horse does not, because he cannot realize 
the advantage of his genealogy; a man can, but as a rule does 
not do so. A nation composed of an aggregation of men is what 
its people make it, and not to know the composition of the people 
is an obstacle to the clear and true understanding of national 
history. So that the genealogies of the different families of a 
country have a high value to the student of history. 

Eecognizing the many deficiencies of this little book, I send it 
forth with many misgivings as to how it may be received. But 
also knowing that it contains practically all of the facts relative 
to our family of Hendersons that are obtainable from the records 
preserved in this country, I think that it has sufficient value to 
warrant its existence. I feel that I am rendering a service to 
some future historian of the family by gathering together these 
records and verified traditions of our forefathers ere they are 
misplaced and perhaps lost in the passing of the older genera- 
tions. I have tried to exclude all statements of important facts 



4 Introduction. 

that could not be verified ; and the data set forth here has been 
gleaned from family records, letters, papers, etc., the records of 
the counties of Augusta, Greenbrier, Mason and Monroe, Saffell's 
Revolution, Hardesty's History of Mason County, Hening's 
Statutes at Lar^e, Waddell's Annals of Augusta County, Peyton's 
History of Augusta County, Burke's Baronetage (1834 edition), 
Patronymica Britannica, Scottish Antiquary, etc. 

Undue prominence has not been given some branches of the 
family over that of others because of any partiality, but because 
of the more abundant material. Several members of the family 
did not even acknowledge my letters of inquiry. 

It has been a labor of love to gather here and there the records 
and floating traditions wiiich illustrate a history rich in the story 
of brave men and noble women, thus saving from impending 
oblivion ever so little of their memory. Like "Old Mortality," 
I have wandered among the graves of the past, and humbly at- 
tempted to retouch the fading gravestones of virtue and worth. 



THE HENDERSONS. 



Patronymica Britannica says that the name of Henderson is 
derived from Hendrick's son, or Henry's son. According to the 
science of Scottish surnames, the Hendersons are of Danish 
origin, it being claimed that all Scotch people whose names end 
in "son" are of Danish ancestors ; therefore, go back to the days 
when the eastern shores of Scotland were overrun by the Danes. 
Burke in 1834 says that the surname of Henderson is one of 
considerable antiquity in Scotland, the Hendersons having been 
settled in the western part of County of Fife, near Inverkeithing 
for over four centuries. The representative families of that 
name in Scotland to-day are those of St. Laurence, Fordell, 
Stemster, and Edinburgh. For several hundred years the name 
has appeared on the college and military rolls of that country. 

The family of interest here is supposed to be descended from 
James Henderson, first Knight of Fordell; the reason for this 
assumption will .appear later. 

James Henderson was born about 1450, and was killed Sep- 
tember 9, 1513. He was appointed King's Advocate in 1494, 
and a few years later Lord Justice Clerk. He fell with his eldest 
son, John, as did their royal master. King James IV. of Scotland, 
at Floddenfield on that fatal 9th of September, 1513. 

" To tell red Flodden's dismal tale 

Tradition, legend, tune and song 

Shall many an age that wail prolong ; 
Still from sire the son shall hear 
Of that stern strife and carnage drear, 

Of Flodden's fatal field 
Where shivered was fair Scotland's spear, 

And broken was her shield. 

There, Scotland ! lay thy bravest pride. 

Chiefs, knights, and nobles many a one!" 

About 1680 we are told that William, John and James Hen- 
derson crossed to Ireland from near Dalmannie, Scotland; but 



6 Ancestry and Descendants of 

whether one of them was the ancestor of the Virginia family, 
the sabject of this sketch, we are unable to tell. The oldest 
family record accessible to the writer carries the family back to 
the middle of the seventeenth century, or more than two hundred 
years. This record is written in an old book, whose title page 
reads as follows: 



Chronicum Preciosum 

OR, AN 

ACCOUNT 

OP 

ENGLISH MONEY, 

THE 

PRICE OF CORN, 

AND 

OTHER COMMODITIES, 

For the Last 600 Years. 



LETTER TO A STUDENT 



University of Oxford. 



LONDON : 

Printed for Charles Harper, at the Flouer-de- 
luce, over against St. Dunstan's Church, in 
fleetstreei, mdccvii. 



In this old book, printed in 1707, and now owned by the writer 
of this sketch, is written iu quaint, faded characters the following 
family record : 

W"" Henderson Gent & Marg^ Bruce 
Mar'd Feb^ 7 1705 

John Son to W" born'd Feb^'^ 9 1706 
Ja" Son to W" born'd Jan'^' 17 1708 



Lieut. John Henderson. 7 >, 

J 

Bruce Son to W" born'd May 10 1710 ^ 

Dyed Sep"*'^ 1719 

Sam' Son to W" born'd Novem"" 28 1713 ! 

Grandsons to John Henderson Gent i 

Fifshyre Scotland. ' 

W" Henderson Dyed Aug' 1 1737 Act 61 '■ 

Born'd Apr' 30 1676 I 

Marg' Henderson Dyed Decern*-" 15 1739 '; 

Born'd March 1 1680/1 Aet 59 j 



Jean Henderson Stuart Dyed in Child 
Bedd March 1730 Aet 19 



•I 

John Henderson Dyed May 1 1766 Aet 60 I 

Sam' Henderson Dyed Jan^^ 19 1782 1 



This Eecord Set doun from the Memory of 

Jas Henderson now Aet 75. ,j 

And on the next page is this record : l 

Jas Henderson & Martha Hamilton 
Mar'd June 23. 1738 



Martha Henderson Dau. to Audley 
Harrison Hamilton Gent & Elenor Adams 
his wife. 

Jas Hendersons living Children — 
David, W™, John, Jas. Sarah Jos. & Jean, 
Sam' & Arch**'^ & Marg*^ passed away. 

On the fly leaf is written : 

Jas Henderson His Booke 
Virginia 1740. 

And now as to the connection with Fordell. The record men- 
tions "John Henderson, Gent., of Fifeshire, Scotland," and it is 
known that all the Fifeshire Hendersons are originally those of 
Fordell ]\Ianor. Judging from the birth of William Henderson, 
Gentleman, in 1676 his father, John Henderson, was probaoly 
bom about 1650, this would place him about right to be a son of 
one of the four younger sons of Sir John Henderson, owner of 
Fordell during the reign of Charles I. According to Burke, 
Sir John had a distinguished command in the army of King 



8 Ancestry and Descendants of 

Charles, and was a lineal descendant of James Henderson, first, 
of Fordell. There is one other thread of connection that may be 
given. On the back of a family paper, which is undated, but was 
probably written before the Revolution, as there is a reference 
made to £60 and all the "s's" are the old long "s's" ; on the back 
of this letter is'a crudely drawn shield bearing devices that have 
been identified as idcntieSI-^mftthose of the Hendersons of For- 
dell, as also the motto "Sola Virtus Nobilitat." But from the 
records obtainable in this country there is no possible way to 
establish unquestionably the kinship. However, there are many 
genealogists who do make positive statements concerning the 
kinship of certain new world families to those of similar name in 
the old countries, who have no more foundation for their assump- 
tion. 

The Henderson Arms, 

In heraldic language are : "Gu. three piles issuing out of the sin- 
ister side arg. On a chief of the last, a crescent az. betwn. two 
ermine spots. CREST. A hand ppr. holding a star or. sur- 
mounted by a crescent arg. MOTTO. Sola Virtus Nobilitat." 

Main Line of Fordell. 

As the similarity of given names between the main line of 
Fordell and the Virginia Hendersons may be of interest, I here 
give from Burke the generations from 1625 to 1850: 

"Sir John Henderson mar. Margaret Monteith, heiress of 
Randiford; by whom he had five sons and five daughters, and 
was succeeded by his eldest son John Henderson, Esq., who was 
created a baronet of Nova Scotia 15 July 1664, Sir John mar. 
Margaret dau. of Sir John Hamilton of Obieston, Lord Chief 
Justice clerk ; by whom he had two sons and two daughters and 
dying in 1683 was succeeded by his second and only surviving son 
Sir William, who mar. Miss Hamilton dau. of Sir John Hamil- 
ton of Mountain Hall, by whom he had four sons and a daughter. 
He died in 1709 and was succeeded by his eldest son Sir John 
who itiar. Christian dau. of Sir Robert Anstruther bart of Bal- 
kaskie ; by whom he had three sons and five daughters, succeeded 
by second and eldest surviving son Sir Robert d. Oct. 1781. 
Mar. Oct. 3, 1748, Isabella dau. of George McKenzie, Esq., of 
Firnie; by whom he had issue John his successor and Sir Bruce 
present Baronet (1834)." Sir Bruce died childless, and the 



V 

c i. 



vi 



Lieut. John Henderson. 9 

estate descended to his first cousin, George Mercer, who assumed 
the name of Mercer-Henderson. 

The Virginia Hendersons. 

James, Jolin and Samuel Henderson mentioned in the record 
already given, all came to Virginia, but it is with the descendants ^J 
of a son of James that we shall mostly concern ourselves. The ^ 
date of their arrival in America is not known unless that of 1740 I^Y 
is the right year. They all settled in Augusta county, where they ^ 
married and brought up families. We will first notice a few 
facts concerning John and Samuel Henderson before proceeding 
with James Henderson and his descendants. 

John Henderson, according to Vol. VII. of Hening, was an 
Ensign in the Augusta Militia in the French and Indian War, 
and in 1758 received fourteen shillings' pay. His will was re- 
corded in Augusta county August 20, 1766, and mentions a son 
William, two daughters unnamed in the will, his wife Rose 
I^'inley, sister of John Finley, one of the first Justices of the 
county. His brother James was one of the executors. 

Samuel Henderson was also in the Augusta Militia, and in 
1758 received fourteen shillings too. His will is recorded in 
1782 in Augusta, and mentions his wife, Jane, and the following C; 
children: James,^ Andrew, Alexander and Florence. His son ^ 
James died in 1801, and his will mentions wife Isabella, and 
children, John, Joseph, Jones, Alexander, Becky, Sarah, Mar- 
garet, and Jean. Samuel Henderson had a grant of 160 acres 
of land "on both sides of Dry Eiver," in Augusta, July 10^ 1766. 

James Henderson. 

James, second son of William and Margaret Bruce Henderson, 
was born in 1708 in Scotland, and died in 1784 in Virginja, He 
served in the Augusta Militia in the French and Indian War, 
first as an Ensign, later as a Lieutenant. By act of the House of 
Burgesses in 1758 to pay the Militia, he received for services as 
Ensign £1 18s., and later as Lieutenant £1. The sword which he 
carried in this war, which is named in the inventory of his son 
John's estate, was preserved by his descendants till stolen in the 
Civil War. 

June 23, 1738, he was married to Martha, daughter of Audley 
Harrison Hamilton, Gentleman, and his wife Elenor Adams 



O^ 




'X 



10 Ancestkt and Descendants of 

Hamilton. Nothing more is known of Audley Hamilton than 
that Hening in his list of the Augusta Militia in 1758 mentions 
an "Audly Hamilton," who may have been a brother or cousin 
instead of the father of Martha Henderson. They were the 
parents of the following children : David, John, James, William, 
Sarah, Joseph, Jean, Samuel Archibald, and Margaret. In his 
will in 1784 James Henderson does not mention either John or 
Jean. The reason for this is not known, but in the case of the 
former is supposed to be because John had married in 1765 and 
gone "west" and settled on New River, in Greenbrier county, 
where he prospered till in 1787 his estate consisted of about two 
thousand acres of land, four negroes and over five hundred 
pounds of personalty, amounting to more than his father's estate. 
At least, there was no estrangement with his brothers, for in an 
old letter written by William Henderson, John is mentioned as 
having sold five hundred acres of land to David, and in 1784 
David collected some money from the State of Virginia for 
John. In his will John makes his brother "Col. James Hender- 
son" one of his executors. James H. had moved to Greenbrier 
after his father's death, where he received in 1785-i6-'7 grants 
for 1,609 acres of land. 

John Henderson. 
John, second son of James and Martha Henderson, was born 
about 1740, and died Sunday, March 34, 1787. In 1765 he mar- 
ried Anne Givens, youngest sister of Elizabeth Givens, wife of 
Gen. Andrew Lewis. She was born about the same year as her 
husband, and died May 28, 1819. Soon after their marriage 
they removed to New Eiver, near Fort Savannah, or Fort Union, 
later, the present town of Lewisburg, Greenbrier county. Here 
he purchased a small tract of land, and in 1786 Governor Ran- 
dolph granted him 350 acres, the original parchment grant ia 
now owned by his great-granddaughter, Mrs. Kate Hannan Long. 
In this year he was granted two tracts containing 1,400 acres 
lying at the confluence of the Great Kanawha and Oliio Rivers; 
beginning about a mile above the mouth of the former at the 
boundary of the George Washington grant of 10,990 acres, and 
extending down that river to the mouth, and thence do\^Ti the 
Ohio to the grant of Gen. Hugh Mercer. The original 1786 
grants for this land have been lost, but on a resurvey in 1800 



Lieut. John Henderson. 11 

Governor James Monroe made new grants "to Samuel, John, 
James, and William Henderson Heirs at law of John Henderson, 
Dec'd," and these parchments are still preserved by the descend- 
ants of John Henderson : one for one thousand acres by his great- 
granddaughter, Mrs. Ella Henderson Hutchinson, and one for 
four hundred acres by the writer of this sketch. He also had a 
grant for fortj'-five acres in Montgomery county, which was 
regranted to his heirs Nov. 24, 1788. 

In the beginning of Dunmore's War he enlisted as a Lieu- 
tenant in the New Eiver Company under Captain Herbert, and 
took part in the battle of Point Pleasant fought on the 10th of 
October, 1774. On the breaking out of the Revolution he enlisted 
in Col. Daniel Morgan's Scotch-Irish Regiment from the Valley 
of Virginia, in which he served until 1780, with the rank of 
Corporal, in Capt. Jolm Gregory's Company. His powder horn 
was preserved by the descendants of his son Samuel, and ^ 
sword carried by his father in the French and Indian War by the 
Monroe county descepdants. 

John Henderson was one of the Justices of Greenbrier county, 
and was present at the November court in 1780. His personal 
estate included four negroes, and amounted to over 536 pounds. 
He was the father of the following children :' Samuel, born Sep- 
tember 7, 1766; John, born August 30, 1768; Margaret, born 

February 12, 1771 > James, born ; Jean, born ; William, 

horn . Of the last three children I have been able to learn 

but little. Jean married Kirkpatrick, and died August 22, 

1805. James married in 1800 Elizabeth Maddy, of Monroe 
county, and William tells something of his family in the follow- 
ing letter to his sister, Margaret Vawter: 

"Cabell County, Va., March 22, 1828. 

"Dear Sister: I again sit down to write a line to you which 
will inform you that myself and family are all in common 
health except Nancy. She has been very unwell ever since some 
time last fall, but is able to go about part of every day almost, 

"Our old Brother Samuel is now at my house, and is unwell 
only a Bad Cold, he left his family and Betsey's all well only 
James who is afflicted with some thing in his throat or neck per- 
haps what is Called the King's evil — I intended to go to see 
yovL last fall (but the bad health of my wife and Other things 



13 Ancestry and Descendants of 

prevented me) and take you money I Borrowed from you But, 
finding it inconvenient to go Mr.. Buhring the man who had the 
use of it last Summer undertook to Send it for me by Some per- 
son from Logan Courthouse and informs me that he sent it by 
Joseph Gore. I have never heard whether you have got it — I 
was only able to Send you 120 Dollars When I can I will send or 
take you the Interest. If I can I want to go next fall Betsey 
talks of going with me. 

"Write me whether you have got your money and everything 
else that you think I may be Interested in hearing. 

"I have in the former part of my letter been talking of things 
of a Temporal nature. I want now to Say a few words about 
things which are of more weight my prospects as it respects this 
world has not been nor is not at present very flatering but I am 
inclined to think that it will all come out right in the end, hav- 
ing little of the world and being Generally disappointed in my 
Calculations to wean my affections from things below and teaches 
me not to seek hapiness in anything Less than God. I think That 
I can with propriety say I am bound for the good Country — 
my Dear friend I greatly desire the pleasure of your Company 
but this cannot be — Therefore let us make heaven and Glory 
the Leading motives in all our pursuits and It will not be long 
Till we Shall all meet in that happy region where we shall forever 
enjoy the Society of each Other never again to be interupted by 
Separation. 

"0 my sister let us go on and hold fast the beginning of 
our Confidence Stedfast to the end and in due time we shall reap 
if we faint not. If you have any accounts from Brother James I 
want you to write me. Bro. Sam'l Tells me that my Dear 
Nephew John H. V. is married to a Miss Dunlap — My Son 
Johi^ was married on the 21st of Feb.y to Elvira McComas 
Daughter to Genl E. McComas. I have nothing more worth 
Communicating But remain your affectionate Brother and Sin- 
cere friend W°» Henderson." 

The above letter is written in a beautiful hand, and is directed 
to Mr. John H. Vawter, Union, Monroe Co., Va. It was mailed 
at Logan Court-house, Va., April 14, 1828. Nancy was his wife, 
and the first Betsey the widow of his brother John Henderson. 
The second Betsey is presumably the writer's daughter. John 



Lieut. John Henderson. 1 

H. V. ■wat? John Henderson Vawter. Original letter is now 
owned by J*ohn H. V.'s son, Capt. Charles Vawter, of Albemarle 
Co., Va., 

Samuel Henderson, 

Oldest son of John and Anne Givens Henderson, was born Sept. 
7, 1766, and died December 24; 1836, in Mason county, where he 
had settled on the Henderson lands in 1795. In 1794 he was 
married to Sallie Donally, daughter of Col. Andrew Donally, 
who built "Donnally's Fort,'^ in the Greenbrier country, in 
1771. In 1790 Col. Donnally and George Clendenin became the 
first representatives of Kanawha county in the Virginia Assem- 
bly, and later he was re-elected for the year of 1803. Sally Don- 
nally Henderson was born January 25, 1775, and died June 3, 
1821. Samuel Henderson was the father of three children: 
I. John Givens, born Feb. 5, 1795; died March 23, 1888. 
II. Andrew, born December 25, 1797; died unmarried. 

III. Charles, born January 16, 1803; died unmarried. 

Charles was considered one of the brightest lawyers and great- 
est orators in Mason county in the first half of the last century. 
Several of his speeches and letters are still preserved, showing 
him to have been particularly clever and witty. 

I. John G. Henderson, the eldest son, inherited the farm where 
he lived all of his life. He volunteered in the war of 1812, and 
was Deputy Sheriff of Mason county in 1822-'3 ; he was also one 
of her early Justices. February 2, 1826, he was married to 
Anna E. Stephens, bom June 5, 1806, died August 17, 1839. 
She was the daughter of Capt. John B. and Sallie Ogden 
Stephens, who came to the county in 1819. He was a grandson 
of a member of the company organized in 1772 to locate lands in 
the "west" ; the following being some of those who surveyed and 
got grants of land for themselves in Mason county on the Great 
Kanawha and Ohio Rivers, in 1774 : George Washington, 10,990 
acres; Hugh Mercer, 13,532A; Andrew Lewis, 9,876; Peter Hog, 
8,000A ; and Andrew Stephens, 8,000A, Stephens sold his patent 
later to Daniel Euffner. 

John Givens Henderson was the father of the following chil- 
dren: 

1. Samuel Bruce, born ISTovember 15, 1826 ; died October 21,. 
1900. 



4 Ancestry and Descendants of 

2. Sallie A., born November 7, 1828. 

3. Mary Ella, born May 12, 1832. 

1. Samuel Bruce' Henderson, married January 16, 1853, Lydia 
S. George, daughter of William and Nancy Eastham George, of 
Fauquier county. They were the parents of five children: 
Charles, married Margaret Dameron, of Kentucky/; John W. ; 
Ann Eliza, married James Wilson ; Nannie Lee ; James S., mar- 
ried Hattie Poffenbarger. 

2. Sallie A. Henderson, married Joseph George, one of the 
large Kanawha Valley farmers. No children. 

3. Mary Ella Henderson, married May 29, 1855, John L. 
Hutchinson, son of Isaac and Margaret Hutchinson, of Monroe 
county. His grandfather was a soldier in the Revolution, and 
about 1796 a member of the Assembly of Virginia. They were 
the parents of six children: Charles Andrew, married a Miss 
Charles; Robert Bruce; Isaac Sterling; Margaret; Mary, and 
John Henderson. Mrs. Hutchinson lives in the large, old brick 
house built in 1811 by her grandfather, Samrel Henderson, at 
the mouth of the Kanawha River, opposite Point Pleasant. She 
has a good many Henderson relics in the way of antique furni- 
ture, oil portrait of Andrew Henderson, old parchment land 
grant for a thousand. acres, etc. 

Col. John Henderson, 
Second son of John and Anne Henderson, was born in Green- 
brier county, Va., Tuesday, August 30, 1768, and died at Hen- 
derson, Mason county, Thursday, August 19, 1824. In 1792 he 
married Elizabeth Stodghill, daughter of John and Elizabeth 
Harvey Stodghill, of Greenbrier. She was born August 3, 1776, 
and died Friday, February 20, 1846. The family was of English 
descent. Her father owned a considerable quantity of land, four 
hundred acres of which was granted to him in 1787, a portion of 
which is still o^vned by the descendants of his son James. Eliza- 
heth Henderson's grandfather, John Harvey, owned for a long 
time the now famous Red Sulphur Springs, in Greenbrier county. 
Her sister Nancy married John Arbuckle, and her sister Ehoda 
married Hugh Caperton of Monroe county. 

According to the following order John Henderson was a 
Lieutenant in the Seventy-ninth Virginia Regiment, or Green- 
hrier Militia : / 



Lieut. John Henderson. 15 

'Tiieutenant John Henderson, 5th. May 1795 

"Sir, you are to attend at the plantation of John Byrnsid in 
the Sinkes on friday 22nd. Instent to hold a Court-Marshal on 
the Busness of the Betalion. also your Ensign and the Commis- 
sions of the Company. 

"I am Sr. your Humbel Sert. 

"James Graham Majr." 

In 1796 and 1797 he was Commissioner of Revenues for the 
county of Greenbrier, as shown by the following original papers : 

"Auditor's Office, 23 Nov., 1796. 
'Tleeeived of John Henderson, Commissioner of Greenbrier 
-, A List of the Land and Property Tax within his District, 



for the Year One Thousand Seven Hundred and Ninety-six. 

"S. Shepard.'' 
"Greenbrier February Court, 1797. 

"John Hunderson Gent, is continued in his office of Commis- 
sioner of public Tax this present Year. 

"Co John Stuart C." 

In 1797 he removed to the mouth of the Great Kanawha River, 
to a farm inherited from his father. Here he soon began to take 
an important part in public affairs. July 3, 1804, he and nine 
other gentlemen sat as the first court held for Mason county; 
each of them had been previously commissioned a Justice by 
Gov. John Page. Five years later he became a member of the 
Virginia Assembly, which position he held in the years of 1809, 
1810, 1813, 1814, 1817, 1818, 1819 and 1820, as shown by the 
lists of the Assembly in some odd numbers of an old almanac 
preserved at the Capitol, and by family letters and receipts still 
preserved; and family tradition says that he was also there in 
the years 1821, 1822 and 1823. In 1814 he was Commissioner 
of Revenue for Mason county, as shown by this original certificate 
in the possession of the writer : 

"I, John Henderson Commissioner of the Revenue for Mason 
county for the year 1814 do hereby certify that Peter Menager 
produced to me the Rect. of Mann Reynolds Sheriff of said 
County for the payment of Nineteen Dollars & Eight cents, the 



16 Ancestry and Descendants of 

f/X-C, *^^ d^6 0^ ^ Retail Store License from the 12th day of Sept. 

1814, to the first day of May 1815. 
\A^uvc^ "Given under My hand and seal this 19th day of September 
lJ'^4'^1^^ 1814. John Henderson." 



t^u^ 



September 30, 1815, he was commissioned High SheriflE of 
Mason county, as shown by an old bond given for his deputies, 
Samuel McCulloch and John McCulloch, Jr., by Samuel McCul- 
loch, John McCulloch, Jr., John McCulloch, Sr., and Edward 
McDonough, for the sum of ten thousand dollars. He con- 
tinued in this office, as shown by the following paper dated in 
1816: 

"Be it Known to all to whom these presents shall come that I 
John Henderson, Sheriff of Mason County in full county (elec- 
tion) held at . . . court-house thereof on the 16 day of April 
in the Year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred & sixteen 
by the el . . . said County Qualified According to Law, 
Caused to . . . two delegates for my said County namely 
Enos Thomas and Charles Clendenin to represent the same in 
the General Assembly. Given under my hand the day & year 
aforesaid. John Henderson." 

After the organization of Mason county in 1804, John Hender- 
son became one of the officers in the One Hundred and Sixth 
Virginia Regiment, In an old muster roll, bearing date of 1812, 
he is named as "1st Major," and all his letters in 1811, 1812 and 
1813 are addressed to Major John Henderson. In 1813-'14 he 
was commissioned Lieut. Colonel, as shown by several of his 
orders written early in 1814 ; and soon afterward he received his 
commission as Colonel, which title is used in the following order 
early in 1815 : 

"Mason County February the 17th, 1815. 
"Detailed for service from this command Captain Michael 
Lee, Lieut. Matthew Brown, Lieut. Charles Bryan, Ensign 
Leander Munsell, Ensign John McCulloch, 4 Sergeants, 3 Cor- 
porals, 2 fifers and 58 Privates — total 72 in persuance to Brigade 
orders of the 23 Ult. John Henderson, 

"Colo Comdg 106 Regt." 

In 1812 and 1813 he received the following appointments: 



Lieut. John Henderson. 17 

**Dear Sir "Richmond 9^^ October 1812. 

"As chairman of the Committee of the 'Society for promoting 
the Success of the War against Great Britain' I am directed to 
request that you will have the Goodness to Act as Our Agent at 
Point Pleasant in receiving 700 pair of Shoes, 300 Flannel 
Under-Jackets and 69 pair of Woolen Stockings, intended as a 
Donation to General Leftwich's Brigade; and that in the Event 
of the Troops having Marched from Point Pleasant, you will be 
pleased to make a Contract on the best Terms you can, for their 
Transportation to the point of the destination of the Brigade: 
Your Drafts on Me for the Sums Necessary for defraying the 
expense will be paid on Sight. I have the honor to be 
"Very Eespectfully Dr. Sir 

"Your Most Ob'd Serv. 

"Major John Henderson/' "James Wood." 

"It is advised "^^^ Council, May 31, 1813. 

"That Major John Henderson of Mason County, be requested 
to take charge of the Arms & other property belonging to the 
Commonwealth, left at Point Pleasant by the Detachment of 
Militia under the Command of Brigadier General Joel Leftwiche 
for the purpose of having them taken proper care of — that he 
be also requested to have an Inventory taken, and Eeport the 
same to the Executive. 

"Copy Teste Wm. Richardson C. C. 

«gj.g '^Richmond, Council Chamber, May 31, 1813. 

"I am instructed by his Excellency the Governor to transmit 
you the above Copy of an Advice of Council of this date, and to 
request your particular attention to the object thereof. I am 
"Sir Very Respectfully 

"Your H'ble Ser't 

"Wm. Robertson C. C." 

In 1830 he received the following commission: 

"To John Cantril, John Henderson & John McCulloch KNOW 

YE, THAT OUR Lieutenant GOVERNOR, persuant to the act 

of General Assembly, passed on the 2nd day of March, 1819, 

entitled, 'An Act to reduce into one act, the acts now in force 



/ 



18 Ancestry and Descendants of 

providing for the appointment of Electors to chose a President 
and Vice President of the United States' hath with the advice of 
the Council of State, constituted and appointed you the said 
John Cantrell, John Henderson & John McCulloch, COMMIS- 
SIONERS for the County of Mason — to superintend the elec- 
tion of Electors for a President and Vice President of the 
United States to be held in and for the said county according to 
the Constitution of the United States and the laws of the Com- 
monwealth. 

In Testimony whereof I have hereunto subscribed 

my name, as Lieutenant Governor, and caused the 

SEAL OF Seal of the Commonwealth to be hereunto affixed 

VA. at Richmond, this 2d day of August — in the year 

of our Lord 1820. .p^^^^^ y Daniel.^ 

In those days Col. Henderson frequently made the journey to 
Richmond on horseback, taking from a week to ten days to make 
the trip each way. In 1811 he almost lost his life in the famous 
Richmond Theatre fire, in which Governor Smith and over sixty 
of the best people of Virginia were burned to death. 

Col. Henderson has bqen described as "a quiet, courteous, old 
gentleman given to much reading and thinking, and shrinking 
from publicity," though he spent most of his life in the public 
service. He possessed a good library for those days, and for 
several years, so it has been said he was the only man in the 
county who took a newspaper; this was the Richmond Enquirer, 
whose subscription price was five dollars a year. It came weekly 
from Richmond, and then passed from hand to hand over the 
county till it was literally read to pieces. But one number has 
been preserved among the Henderson papers, and that contains 
President Monroe's Inaugural Address in 1816. 

Colonel Henderson was not a wealthy man, but was comfort- 
ably well off. He owned two plantations as named in his will ; 
the home place of 350 acres and the "Five Mile place" of 225 
acres. On these places he kept from twelve to fifteen horses and 
about twice as many cattle. His slaves consisted of : 

One man named London. 

One women named Hannah. 

One young woman named Phylis, and five children under 
twelve years old. 



Lieut. John Henderson. 19 

In March, 1835, the year after his death, his widow and son 
purchased a black girl from Mr. William George for two hundred 
and fifty dollars; her name was Milia; in May of same year a 
negro man, Barber, from Dr. Shaw for five hundred dollars; 
and a negro boy from a Mr. Harrison — name and price not 
known to the writer. The man London is the same fellow that 
is named in the will of Col. Henderson's grandfather, Jaraea 
Henderson, of Augusta county. 

John and Elizabeth Henderson were the parents of the follow- 
ing children: 

I. Margaret, born August 11, 1793; died Nov. 6, 1793. 
11. Jane, born Nov. 12, 1794; died August 13, 1835. 
III. Sarah, born January 6, 1797 ; died January 26, 1872. ■ 
IV. Rhoda, born March 26, 1800; died April 1, 1879. 
V. Angelina, born Jan. 4, 1802 ; died Dec. 26, 1843. 
VI. James Madison, born Nov. 22, 1807; died Sept. 14, 1829. 

VII. Elizabeth, born April 8, . 

VIII. Nancy, born Nov. 21, 1811; died Feb. 1, 1886. ]^ 
IX. Emily, born September 10, 1817. 

II. Jane Henderson, married, March 29, 1831, Charles Hoy, 
of Mason county, and died without heirs in 1835. 

III. Sarah Henderson was considered one of the prettiest girls 
in western Virginia in the first quarter of the nineteenth century. 
Years afterward her daughter, Mrs. Nannie Vaught, met Judge 
Harrison at Clarksburg, and upon finding out that she was from 
Mason county he asked if she had ever known Sallie Henderson 
of that county ; that when he was a young man she was consid- 
ered one of the belles of that section of Virginia, and that he was 
one of her rejected suitors. He seemed much surprised and 
pleased when Mrs. Vaught told him that Sallie Henderson was 
her mother, and still living. In 1819 Sallie's mother writing to 
Col. Henderson at Richmond, in answer to some inquiry of the 
anxious father, says: "You ask what prospects for matrimony. 
Sallie seems to out-pole the rest;" she then names three young 

men, "Have proposed already, and Mr. is shying around, 

and I think will propose the next time he comes." This was 
five years before she became the second wife of John Miller, on 
the 16th of October, 1823. His first wife was daughter of Major 
William Clendenin, who was an Indian fighter, Virginia militia- 



'20 Ancestry and Descendants of 

man, member of the Virginia Assembly, and otherwise promi- 
nent in the affairs of his county. John Miller was a son of Chris- 
tian Miller, a sergeant in Capt. Jacob Rinker's Virginia Company 
in the Eevolution, and grandson of Jacob Miller, a large land- 
owner in the Shenandoah Valley and founder of Woodstock in 
1761. John Miller owned about two thousand acres of land, and 
over twenty negroes. 

The order for Sallie Henderson's wedding dresses, carried from 
Eichmond over the mountains on horseback, calls for one white 
satin Tress pattern with white shoes; seven white dresses of 
India lawn and book muslin; five silk dress patterns, plain and 
fancy; four crepe dresses, with the various accessories to com- 
plete the toilets. The gowns were made in the prevailing empire 
style of low neck, short sleeves and short waists. One of the 
crepe dresses was of purple embroidered elaborately down the 
front and around the bottom of the skirt in white. 

John and Sallie Henderson Miller were the parents of the 
following children: 

1. Elizabeth, bom August 30, 1824; died 1844. 

2. Nancy L., born October 26, 1827. 

3. James Henderson, born June 6, 1829; died Feb. 19, 1898. 

4. Anne Eliza, born Nov. 8, 1831 ; died July 16, 1854. 

5. Mary Caroline, born Feb. 20, 1834; died Dec. 23, 1899. 

6. Rhoda James, born Oct. 13, 1836. 

7. Sarah Emily, born Nov. 20, 1839. 

1. Elizabeth Miller, married in 1843 Rev. John Van Pelt, and 
died the following year. 

2. Nanc} L. Miller, married Sept. 16, 1852, Rev. Stephen 
Kisling Vaught, of Kentucky. They were the parents of four 
children; Anne Eliza, Andrew Carr, Robert Lee, M. D. (all 
dead), and William Henderson, who married Ora Hogg, a great- 
great-granddaughter of the famous Major Peter Hogg, of Au- 
gusta county. 

3. James Henderson Miller, married March 27, 1851, Harriet 
E. Craig, great-granddaughter of Rev. John Craig, the father 
of Presbyterianism in the Shenandoah Valley; great-grand- 
daughter of John Madison, first clerk of Augusta county; and 
granddaughter of Capt. William Arbuckle, of Point Pleasant 
fame. They were the parents of the following children : Willie 
Anna, married Henry Hannan Eastham, a descendant of the 



Lieut. John Henderson. 21 

Fauquier family of that name; Minnie, married Virgil V. 
Bishop, of Kockingham county; James Henderson, Jr., mar- 
ried Beatrice Brockmeycr; George Kennerly, married Anna 
Moore ; Sarah Yaught, married Samuel Couch, of "Holmewood," 
Mason county. Mrs. Miller died in 1872, and September 29, 
1874, J. H. M., married Finetta Anne Lyon, of Woodford county, 
Kentucky. She is a lineal descendant of the John Davis who set- 
tled in York county, Ya., in 1623, from Gloucestershire, Eng- 
land. Her great-great-grandfather, Thomas Davis, married in 
1718-'20 Sarah Fielding, daughter of Edward Fielding, a North- 
umberland county planter, supposed to be the son of Ambrose 
Fielding, a Bristol, England, merchant. Her Lyon ancestors 
came to Marj^land from Perthshire, Scotland before the French 
and Indian War. James Henderson Miller and his second wife 
were the parents of two children: Joseph Lyon, M. D., and 
Stephen Kisling. 

4. Anne Eliza Miller, married November 13, 1850, Capt. 
James Eobert Buffington, of Mobile, Ala., formerly of Cabell 
county, Ya. She died of Cholera in St. Louis in 1854, leaving 
one son. Llanos, who now lives in California. 

5. Mary C. Miller, married May 24, 1859, Absolom P. Chap- 
man, of Cabell county. They were the parents of Sarah F. and 
Emma Evelyn, who married Charles E, McCulloch, a descendant 
of the McCuUochs of Maryland, and the Clendenins and Bryans 
of Yirginia. 

6. Ehoda James Miller, married July 25, 1855, Edmund Pen- 
dleton Chancellor, a great-great-grandson of Capt. Richard 
Chancellor, a soldier of Charles II., who came to Westmoreland 
county, Ya., in 1G82. Here he married Catharine Fitzgerald 
Cooper, a granddaughter of Richard Cooper, one of the Yirginia 
Charter Members, who later came to Yirginia in the year 1634. 
E. P. Chancellor's grandfather, Thomas Chancellor, was a pri- 
Tate in the Yirginia Line in the Revolution. His wife was 
Judith Gaines, a niece of Edmund Pendleton. E. P. and R. J. 
M. Chancellor are the parents of Edmund Pendleton, Jr., mar- 
ried Belle Carnahan ; Eugenia, married Castella Rathbone ; Rose 
Carroll, and Nan Preston. 

7. Sarah Emily Miller, married September 18, 1870, Hunter 
Ben Jenkins, of St. Louis. They have two sons, William Hen- 
derson, and George. 



22 Ancestry and Descendants of 

IV. Ehoda Henderson was considered one of the cleverest 
members of the family, and all her life was known for her wit 
and fine intellect. June 7, 1838, she married Henry Hannan, 
one of the leading farmers of the Ohio Valley, and a descendant 
of an old Scotch family. They had two children: 1. Franklin; 
2. Catharine. 

1. Frank Hannan, married Sarah Jane Arbuckle, a member 
of the famous Arbuckle family of Greenbrier county, and was 
the father of the following children : Maud, Eose, John, James,, 
and Katharine, who married George C. Pollock, a banker at 
Boulder, Col. 

2. Catharine Hannan, married James W. Long, of "Elm 
Grove," Mason county, one of the largest farmers of the Ka- 
nawha Valley. The Longs are one of the oldest families of Page 
county, Va., the first of the family having settled there from 
Germany early in the eighteenth century. Their children are: 
Rhoda, James Hannan, Mary, Annette, married William Strib- 
ling, a member of one of Mason county's oldest families ; George,. 
Frances Elizabeth, Sarah, married Gilbert Mille: Harnsberger, 
of Page county, Va., and Evaline, who is considered one of the 
finest amateur musicians in southern West Virginia. Mrs. Long 
has many interesting papers and relics of her Henderson ances- 
tors, over a hundred years old, among them is a quaint china tea- 
pot that belonged to her great-great-great -grandmother, Marga- 
ret Bruce Henderson, over two centuries ago in Scotland. 

V. Angelina Henderson, married March 26, 1828, William A. 
McMullin, of Mason county. She was considered the beauty of 
the Henderson family, and had a great many admirers. They 
had six children, who grew to maturity. James, the eldest son, 
was drowned in the Kanawha River several years ago. The other 
sons were William and Charles, both dead now, and Major John 
McMullen, a very genial old gentleman, formerly of Louisville, 
Ky., but now living in New Albany, Ind. There were two girls, 
Rhoda and Mary. Rhoda married, first, a Mr. Harshbarger; 
second, a Mr. Cooke. Mary married, first, a Mr. Judge, and,^ 
second, a Mr. Hudson, of St. Albans, W. Va. They had one 
daughter. Rose, who married in 1895 Henry H. Barnes, of Mt. 
Sterling, Ky., where Mrs. Hudson now resides. 

VI. Elizabeth Henderson, married Rev. David Quinn Guthrie, 
October 1, 1846, and died without heirs. 



Lieut. John Henderson. 23 

VII. Nancy Henderson, married October 18, 1833, Thomas 
Jefferson Bronaugh, of the fine old family in Fauquier county, 
Va. Concerning them and their descendants I take the follow- 
ing extract from a number of the Henry county, Mo., Democrat: 

"Died at her residence, near Calhoun, Henry county. Mo., 
February 1, 1886, Mrs. ISTancy Bronaugh, wife of Thomas J. 
Bronaugh, in her seventy-sixth year. Mrs. Bronaugh, who was 
the daughter of Col. John Henderson, was born in Mason county, 
Va., November 21, 1811, and was married to Thomas J. Bro- 
naugh on the 18th of October, 1832. She removed from Virginia 
more than thirty-five years since to a farm two miles north of 
Calhoun, where she continued to reside until her death. Mrs. 
Bronaugh was the mother of seven children, who survived to man 
and womanhood, but two of them, Emma and Thomas, preceded 
her to the grave. Her surviving children are Dr. John W., 
James H., Mrs. Mary Eedford, Christopher C, and David H., 
all of whom reside in Henry county. . . . With unremitting 
perseverance she exerted her energy for the well-being of her 
family and friends. As a devoted mother, loving wife and kind 
and affable friend and neighbor, she had few equals. None knew 
her but to esteem her." 

VIII. Emily Harvey Henderson, married April 13, 1843, Dr. 
Joseph Shallcross, son of Dr. Joseph Shallcross, of Philadelphia. 
Dr. Shallcross was connected with the Cadwallader family and 
other prominent families of Philadelphia. Dr. Shallcross was 
born in 1797, served in the war of 1812, and later graduated 
from the Philadelphia Medical College. He came of a family 
of physicians, his brother, father and both grandfathers being 
members of that profession. Joseph and Emily Shallcross were 
the parents of seven children : 1. Harriette, d. s. ; 2. Joseph, d. s. ; 
3. Catharine, married Miron Hard, superintendent public 
schools at Sidney, Ohio. They have three children, Ansel S., 
Nora E., Minnie A.. 4. Annie C, married Capt. John L. New- 
some. They have two children, Bizette and Joseph. 5. Morris 
Cadwallader, married Mary Fowler, and has one child, Celestine. 
6. Maria H., married Dr. Charles Davenport Kerr, wholesale 
and retail druggist at Gallipolis, Ohio. No children. 7. John 
Henderson, still single. 



24 Ancestey and Descendants of 

Margaret Henderson Vawter. 

Margaret, daughter of John and Anne Givens Henderson, was 
bom February 12, 1771, in Greenbrier county, Va., and died 
September 8, 1853, in Madison county, Ind. February 12, 1795, 
she married William Vawter, Jr., born May 26, 1765, died 
November 15, 1822. He was the son of William Vawter (born 
May 6, 1735; died March 6, 1815) and Anne Ballard Vawter 
(born October 23, 1733; died May 24, 1814). His father was 
one of the large land-owners in the Greenbrier country, and came 
from one of the oldest families in Essex county. Bishop Meade 
mentions "Vawter Church" in that county, a venerable old brick 
church built in 1731, and still in use in 1857. Concerning the 
position of the family of William and "Peggy" Henderson Vaw- 
ter in the first half of last century, I take this extract from a 
letter written by a lady living in Monroe county before the war : 
"The Vawters are not the wealthiest, but in point of honor the 
first in the county." 

William and Margaret Vawter were the parents of the follow- 
ing children : 

I. Elizabeth, bom January 28, 1798. 
II. John Henderson, born Jan. 23, 1800 ; died June 8, 1877. 
III. Anne, born March 18, 1802. 
IV. Jean, or Jennie, born June 14, 1805, 

V. Mary, or Polly, bom Sept. 8, 1808; died Nov. 23, 1887. 
VI. Elliot, born March 9, 1812. 
VII. James, born August 11, 1814. 

I. Elizabeth Vawter, married February 22, 1821, Eobert 
Young, a Monroe county farmer. I have not been able to get any 
information about this family, but understand that there are 
two sons living, William and George Young. 

II. John Henderson Vawter was a civil engineer of consid- 
erable ability, and located nearly all of the Middle Tennessee 
Eailroad. For a long time he was County Surveyor of Monroe 
county, and before the war he represented that county in the Vir- 
ginia Assembly for nearly twenty years. From the summer of 
1862 till the close of the war he was a Captain on the staff of Gen. 
John Echols, C. S. A. He had four sons in the Confederate 
army. They were Dr. Lewis A., Captain of Company C, Sharp- 
shooters, Thirtieth Virginia. William, entered Company D, 



Lieut. John Henderson. 25 

Twenty-seventh Regiment, Stonewall Brigade, in August, 1862; 
wounded at battle of the Wilderness, and promoted to the Com- 
missary Department, with rank of Captain. James E., entered 
Twelfth Mississippi Regiment in 1861, elected Captain of Com- 
pany I in May, 1862; shot five times at Frazier's Farm, and died 
July 2, 1862. Charles E., entered Monroe Guards in May 1861, 
then into the Twenty-seventh Regiment, Stonewall Brigade ; ap- 
pointed Captain of a company of sharp-shooters in 1862; cap- 
tured and imprisoned in Fort Delaware in March, 1865 ; released 
in June, 1865. 

John Henderson Vawter married, first, Adaline Dunlap, Jan- 
uary 22, 1838; she died November 8, 1828, at the birth of her 
first child, who also died a year later. June 17, 1833, he mar- ""^^'^ 
ried, second, Clara S. Peck, of Giles county, and to them were^ , 
born the following children : '' 

1. John William, born September 30, 1834. 

2. Elizabeth Mary, born January 2, 1836. 

3. Margaret Anne, born July 1, 1836 ; d. s. 1885. 

4. Lewis Addison, M. D., born Oct. 22, 1838; died Jan. 4,. 
1900. 

5. James Elliot, born March 1, 1840; d. s. 1862. 

6. Charles E., born June 9, 1841. 

7. Allen Henderson, born January 8, 1843 ; d. s. 

8. Matilda Ellen, born March 16, 1844. 

9. Sarah Josephine, born July 10, 1847. 

10. Joseph Snyder, bom July 17, 1849; d. s. 1863. 

11. Clara Virginia, born August 23, 1853. 

12. Henry Alexander, born April 23, 1853. 

13. George W., born April 5, 1855. 

1. John William Vawter, married September 25, 1866, Eliza- 
beth Dew Kean, of Virginia, and to them were born : John Alex- 
ander, d. s. ; Nelson Carlyle, Ci\dl Engineer, married Sarah 
Elizabeth Paxton ; Clara McDonald, d. s. ; William Alfred, Con- 
ductor on Norfolk & Western Railroad, married Mabel Clare 
Shorter; Charles Kean, Conductor on Mississippi Central Rail- 
road ; Andrew Eliot, d. s. ; James Samuel, Telegrapher, married 
Mary S. Pyle; Henry Alexander, Telegrapher. 

4. Dr. Lewis A. Vawter, married April 24, 1862, Mary Adair, 
of Red Sulphur Springs. She died, and January 16, 1867, he 
married Emily M. Dameron, who bore him four children : Mary 



•26 Ancestry and Descendants of 

Allen, d. s.; John William, Illustrator for James Whitcomb 
Kiley and others ; Clara Peck, author of Of Such is the Kingdom 
of Heaven, a child's book beautifully illustrated by her brother; 
d. 6. Charles Elliot. 

6. Charles Erastus Vawter, at the close of the war, returned 
to Emory and Henry, from which he was graduated in 1866. He 
then taught in Chattanooga till 1868, when he entered the Uni- 
versity of Virginia for a special course in mathematics. In the 
same year he was elected professor of Mathematics at his alma 
mater, where he taught till he was made President of the famous 
Miller Training School in Albemarle county, in 1878. He mar- 
ried July 34, 1866, Virginia Longley, of Tennessee, and to them 
were born : Mary Longley, married Harrison Robertson, of Dan- 
ville ; Josephine, married Stonewall Tompkins, a member of the 
Miller School faculty; Charles E., Jr., a graduate of the Uni- 
versity of Virginia, and Professor of Mathematics a^d Physics 
at the Virginia Polytechnic Institute; Leonora Leigh, James 
Elliot, Virginia Longley, and Edmund Longley. 

8. Matilda Ellen Vawter, married May 29, 1873, William 
Farnier, a Craig county planter. They have two daughters: 
Mamie and Clara, who married Rev. 0. W. Lusky. 

9. Sarah Josephine Vawter, married, 1867, Frank Peck 

Sweeny. They are both dead, leaving two daughters and three 
sons. 

II. Clara Virginia Vawter, married, 1870, Lewis Peck. 

Both dead, leaving seven boys and two girls. 

13. Henry Alexander Vawter, married February 4, 1885, Net- 
tie Baber, of Alderson, W. Va. They have three children : James 
Henry, George Elliot, Clara Elizabeth. 

13. George W. Vawter, lives at the old Vawter home in Monroe 
county that has been in the Vawter Family for four generations. 
October 39, 1879, he married Eliza L. Gwinn, who bore him two 
children, Joseph and Robert. 

III. Anne Vawter, married July 19, 1831, Lorenza Dow Cook, 
and moved to Indiana, where they have one son, William Vawter 
Cook, a farmer living near Anderson, Madison county. 

IV. Jane Vawter, married August 31, 1836, Andrew Shanklin, 
and moved to Madison county, Ind., several years before the war. 
They left one son, William Vawter Shanklin and other children. 



Lieut. John Henderson. 37 

V. Polly Vawter, married August 4, 1840, Moses D. Kerr, and 
moved to Madison county, Ind., where they owned a large farm, 
and where their descendants still live. They were the parents of : 

1. Margaret Anne, born August 23, 1841 ; died Oct. 9, 18G5. 

2. James Vawter, born June 19, 1843. 

3. Elizabeth Jane, born March 22, 1845; died August 16, 1877. 

4. William Elliot, born May 3, 1848; d. s. February 12, 1868. 

5. Clara Isabell, born Oct. 30, 1850; died August 16, 1887. 

1. Margaret A. Kerr, married March 16, 1865, Ira D. Coty. 
No heirs. 

2. James Vawter Kerr, married, first, November 26, 1874, 
Sarah A. Baker. She died, and December 31, 1876, he married 
Rosa B. Powell, who bore him four children : Vida Anne, Clara 
Margaret, Merritt Vawter and Ramond Powell. 

3. Elizabeth J. Kerr, married August 30, 1876, John G. Haas. 
Left one son, Herbert Haas, who married Leah Guilkey. 

5. Clara D. Kerr, married August 30, 1876, Milton Hars- 
berger. Left one son, Ramond Harsberger. 

VI. Elliot Vawter was educated at Atherns, Ohio, and was a 
pioneer merchant having stores in several of the back counties. 
He was also a surveyor, and did a great deal of that work in 
Mercer, Raleigh, Wyoming and McDowell counties. In 1872 he 
was elected to the West Virginia Senate. Before the war he was 
a Colonel of Militia, and in the war was in the Confederate Quar- 
termaster Service. November 20, 1839, he married Julia Pack, 
and to them were born : 

1. Mary Jane. 

2. Rebecca Anne. 

3. Margaret Elizabeth. 

4. Julia Ellen. 

5. Cynthia Pack. 

6. John Elliot. 

7. William Robert. 

8. Martha Jenny McLean. 

2. Rebecca A, Vawter, married March, 1867, Rev. J. R. Van 
Home. Five children: Maud, married a lawyer at Woodstock; 
Rhesel, Guy, Taylor and Sadie. 

. 4. Julia Ellen Vawter, married October 31, 1867, J. M. John- 
son, a large farmer of Monroe county and breeder of thorough- 



28 Lieut. John Henderson. 

bred Galloway cattle. For four years he was Sheriff of his 
comity. They have six children: Ashby W., Cashier of the 
Greenbrier Valley Bank, married Miss Pence; Elliot B., married 
Miss Morton; Eugenia R., married James E. Morton, Cashier 
of the Graham Bank, and a descendant of the fine old families 
of Morton, Micheau, and Eochette, of Tazewell county; Julia S., 
Stella and Emily. 

6. John Elliot Vawter, married October, 1881, Miss Rudisil, 
of Virginia. They have six children: Elliot, John, Eugene, 
Charles, Emily and Julia. 

7. William E. Vawter, married March, 1894, Miss Miller, of 
Eichmond. No children. 

VII. James Vawter, merchant, married February 6, 1845, 
Jane Peck, who died at birth of first child, a daughter who died 
in 1864. In 1848 he married Eliza Lybreck, of Giles county, by 
whom he had two daughters. After the war they moved to Illi- 
nois, where one girl died and the other one married. 



WILLS AND INVENTORIES. 



Will of James Henderson {born 1708; died 1784). 

In the Name of God Amen, 

I, James Henderson of the Parish of County of Augusta, 
Being but in a low State of health at present but of perfect mind 
and memory thanks to Almighty God who gave it and calling to 
mind the uncertainty of life and the certainty of death it being 
apointed for all men once to die and after death the judgment, 
I do hereby make this to be my last Will and Testament in man- 
ner and form as follows and first I recommend my soul to God 
who gave it and my body to the Earth from whence it was taken 
•to be buried in a christian and decent manner at the direction 
of my Executor hereafter named not doubting but I shall re- 
ceive the same again at the Eesurrection and as for what worldly 
goods it hath pleased God to bless me with it is my will and 
desire that they be disposed of as follows and first it is my will & 
desier that all my just debts and funeral charges be duly paid 
within convenient time after my decease by my Executors and 
the remainder of my Estate to be disposed of as follows. And 
First. I bequeath to my beloved wife Martha the one third of 
my whole estate and for her to dispose of as she may think proper 
after my lawful (debts) is duly paid and it is my desire that the 
negro wench Elsey shall be my wife's during her life likewise it 
is my desire son William and David Henderson receive each of 
them to the value of fifteen pounds of my Estate each one fifteen 
pounds apiece and my negro boy named London to be divided 
between as they can agree between themselves and likewise it is 
my desier that my daughter Sarah Stuart have a horse worth ten 
pounds and two cows or the value of them and likewise I be- 
queath unto m}'- other two sons James and Joseph Henderson the 
remainder of my Estate to be equally divided between them pro- 
vided that James divide his interests of land rites Caintucky with 
his brother Joseph and if not then my son James is to receive 
but the fourth part and if my wife Martha should be incapable 



30 Ancestry and Descendants of 

of her part at her descease then I allow her share to be equally 
divided among the whole of my children and I desire that James 
and Joseph pay out of their part the sum of Twenty Shillings 
to James Dickey and Twenty Shillings unto John Dickey and 
my leave to young James Dickey further it is my desier that the 
tract of land Containing One hundred Acres of land surveyed to 
my son Archibald Henderson now deceased be sold as soon as 
possable and the money to be put to interest untill such time as 
My son Archibald daughter named Elener Henderson comes to 
age only this I allow Elizabeth Henderson her mother my sons 
widow to receive twenty pounds of the price of said lands when 
received and I do hereby nominate constitute and appoint Wil- 
liam Dunlap and my wife Martha to be joynt Executors of this 
my last Will and Testament and I do hereby revoke and make 
void all other and former Wills by me any time heretofore made 
and do ratifi and confirm this only to bee my last Will and Testa- 
ment in Witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand and seal 
this Seventh day of February 1784 signed sealed published and 

declared by the Testator in the presence of 

James Young. James Henderson. (Seal). 

William Alexander. 
Michael Dickey, 

At a Court Continued and held for Augusta County, May 19th. 
1784. 

This Last Will and Testament of James Henderson deceased 
was proved by the oaths of James Young William Alexander and 
Michael Dickey the witnesses thereto and ordered to be recorded. 
And on the motion of Martha Henderson one of the Executors 
therein named, Certificate is hereby granted her for obtaining a 
probate in due form she having complied with the Law. 



Notes on the Above Will. — There is no Inventory of the 
personal estate of James Henderson on record in Augusta county, 
but from the property disposed of by the will he must have been 
possessed of considerable property. He owned at least two 
negroes ; the boy London was later sold by David Henderson to 
his nephew, Col. John Henderson, of Greenbrier county. Michael 
Dickey was probably a son-in-law of James Henderson, husband 
of either his daughter Margaret or Jean; and the James and 



Lieut. John Henderson. 31 

John Dickey, therefore, grandsons of his, and "young James 
Dickey" a great-grandson and namesake. 

Will of John Henderson (born 1739; died 1787). 

(son of JAMES.) 

In the name of God, Amen, the eighth day of February in the 
year of our Lord one thousand seven hundred and eighty one, I 
John Henderson of the County of Greenbrier & STATE of Vir- 
ginia, Being in perfect health, mind and memory Thanks be 
given unto God therefore : and Calling to mind the mortality of 
my Body and knowing that it is appointed for all men once to 
Die, do make and ordain this my last Will and Testament : That 
is to say principally and first of all, I give and recommend my 
Soul unto the hands of God that gave it as for my body I recom- 
mend it to the earth to be buried in a Christian like and decent 
manner at the Direction of my executors. Nothing doubting that 
■at the general resurrection I shall receive the same again by the 
mighty power of God : and as touching my worldly Estate, as it 
hath pleased God to bless me with in this world, I give and Be- 
queath in the following manner and form. I Bequeath 

unto Ann my Dearly beloved Wife, one Negro "Woman named 
Hannah during the state of her widowhood, and afterwards to 
Descend to my children and one large Grey mare I had Late of 
Capt. Wright (exclusive of her offspring) together with her bed 
and furniture I give to her without exception to be hers forever 
and the plantation I now live upon with all the working tools and 
two horses to work the same, to be for her support during her 
widowhood to enable her to raise & school my children, and all 
my Stock and personal Estate I now possess, I allow to be con- 
tinued (as above during her Widowhood for the purposes above 
mentioned, and that if by increase they should become more than 
necessary, I allow them to be disposed of at the discretion of my 
Executors for the purposes afforesaid — and my covering Horse 
.for that purpose untill this Ensuing Season Expires and after 
that to be sold at the discretion of my Executors, as above men- 
tioned and all my Estate in Land I bequeathe to my Four sons. 
Viz: Samuel, John, James, and William, to be equally devided 
to each, his proportion: to them and their Heirs forever and 
when any of my children comes to maturity, I allow their part to 
be given them by my Executors. And I do hereby revoke and 



33 Ancestry and Descendants op 

disannul all former Wills and Testaments by me in any wise be- 
fore this named. Eatifying and confirming this, and no other, 
to be my Last Will and Testament, In Witness whereof I have 
hereunto set my hand and seal the day and year first above writ- 
ten. 

John Henderson. (Seal.) 
Sign.d seal.d and deliver.d 

by the said John Henderson to be his last will and Testament in 
the presence of us 

Thos. Wright, 

John Hutcheson, 

Wm. Hutcheson. 

N. B. I continue and appoint Wm. Hutchison and Colo. James 
Henderson to be my Executors of this my Last Will and Testa- 
ment. 

Witness my hand. John Henderson. 

At a Court holden for Greenbrier County the 26th. June 1787. 
This Instrument of Writing was presented in Court as & for the 
Last Will & Testament of Jno Henderson Dec'd & proved by the 
oath of Jno Hutchison one of the Witnesses thereto & the Execu- 
tors therein named refusing to take upon them the Execution 
thereof on the motion of John Hutchison & Samuel Henderson, 
Administration of said Estate is granted them with the Will an- 
nexed. 

Teste John Stuart. 

Greenbrier June Court 1787. 

This Will was proved by the oath of John Hutchison & or- 
dered to rec'd. 

John Stuart Clk. 



John Henderson died March 24, 1787, and his eiiate consisted 
of near two thousand acres of land in the New Eiver and Ka- 
nawha Valleys, with the following personal property, which in- 
cludes four negro servants : 

A list of the Apraisement of Slaves and personal Estate of John 
Henderson Dec'd. 

£ 

One Negro woman @ 70 

One Negro boy six years old @ 45 

One do. three years old @ 38 

One do. girl child @ 12 



8 


d 




















10 






Lieut. John Henderson. 33 

X a d 

One Stone Horse three years old @ 40 

One Bay Mare three years old @ 25 

One Dappled Gray Mare four years old @ 22 

One light gray Mare five years old @ 20 

One blue gray Mare five years old @ 18 

One Gray Mare ten years old @ 15 

One bay Horse six years old (5) 15 

One do. five years old @ 12 

One black Mare ten years old @ 11 

One sorrel Mare three years old @ 12 

One Black mare four years old @ 3 

One bald faced mare brown eight years old @ . . . . 6 

One chestnut Sorrel horse three years old @ 10 

One old Brown Mare @ 5 

One year old Horse Colt dark greay @ 15 

One year old dark gray mare Colt @ 10 

One year old Strawberry gray horse colt @ 6 

One year old mare colt black @ 5 10 

One Eed brindled Cow @ 3 10 

One red Cow and Calf @ 3 

One red Cow @ 2 15 

One py Cow @ 2 10 

One white do. @ 2 15 

One brown do. and a calf @ 3 

One py do. @ 2 15 o 

One brindled pyd heifer @ 2 5 

Three heifers @ 1.10 each 4 10 

One year old Bull @ 1 5 

Two yeares old 1 heifer 1 Steer at 20/ each 2 

Ten sheep @ 3/ each 4 

Five breeding sows @ 20/ each 5 

Fifteen Small Hoggs @ 6/ each 3 

Three hoggs 3 years old @ 20/ each 3 

One Sow and five shoats @ 1 10 

One bar share plow and tacklen @ 1 5 Q 

One Shovell plow and Clivishs @ 10 

One Do. and clivish @ 8 

One Trone 4/6 ; 1 drawing knife 2/ : 1 iron wedge 

1/6 8 



.34 Ancestry and Descendants of 

£ 8 d 

3 Augers 2/6 each; 1 Chisel and gough 1/3 each . . 10 

2 Do. @ 1/ each; 1 pitching ax @ 10/ 12 

1 flat Iron 2/; 1 Mattock 7/6 9 6 

1 hand saw 6/; 1 pitching ax 5/ 11 

3 pitching axes @ 7/6 each 15 

1 Set of Maul rings 5/; 1 spring lock 8/ 13 

1 lamp & snuffers 2/; 1 coze nogen & flems ( ?) . . 3 

1 Set tug traces 6/ 6 

Ilronkettle48/;lpot30/; 1 do. 7/6 4 5 6 

1 Iron kettle lid and hooks 4/2 ; pair pot hooks and 

rack 12/ 16 

1 frying pan 7/6 ; 1 Curry Comb 2/6 10 

3 sickles 6d each ; 1 pair nippers 1/6 3 

1 Sword and belt @ 3 

7 pewter plate 1/3 each; 3 do. 1/6 each 13 

1 pewter dish 7/6 ; 3 do. @ 3/ each 16 6 

1 pewter basson 10/; 1 small do. 5/ 15 

4 small do. 2/6 each; 1 soup spoon 2/6 12 

19 pewter Spoons 3/; 6 tea do. 2/6 5 6 

7 tins 2/ ; 4 knives & forks 3/ ; 1 tin tumbler 2/ . . . 7 

1 Do. Coffee Pot 2/6 2 6 

1 funnel and pepper box 1 6 

6 stone plates 7/6; 4 delph do. 4/; 2 do. bowls 1/6 14 6 
1 Delph pitcher 2/; 1 do. teapot 1/3; 1 do. bowl 1/043 

6 tea cups and saucers 5/ ; 3 do. and Cream jugg 2/6 7 6 

1 Glas tumbler 2/6 ; 1 gilted tumbler 6/ 8 6 

1 Rifle gun @ 1 16 

1 Case bottle, 1 wine do. 1/6 each 3 

A Number of old Books, 18 

1 Rule 2/6 Compases 1/6 4 

1 powder horn and shot bagg 6 

Wooden Vessels, 16 

6 Chairs 1/ each 6 

3 Spinning wheels 15 

1 Chacle Reel 5 

1 Loom and Quil wheel 1 13 

2 Bedstead and cords 7/6 each 

1 do. & cord 4/; 1 cord 2/ 1 1 

1 Womans Saddle 1 10 

4 baggs 5/ each ; 1 grind stone 3/ 1 3 



LiKL'T. .loll.V TfKVDEUBOX. 35 

£ n rl 

20 lb wool 2/ per lb; 15 lb of backl.-d (lax 1/ i>r Ih. 2 1.') 

1 Kcather bed and furnitiirt' KIT 

I Do. and do 11 H 1) 

1 Do. and do 7 U 

1 Do. and do 7 10 

1 Do. and do 7 10 

45 bushels of coru @ 2/ pr bushel ^ 10 

£536 19 03 

Appraised by us this Hth. July 1787 being first duly Qualified. 
Hugh Caperton 
Henry McDaniel 
Nichles Henry 
John Thonipason. 

Presented at a Court lield 31st. July 1787. 

Henderson Relics. 

^Irs. Kate Hannan Long owns a little old chest that came 
from Scotland, a quaint old teapot that belonged to Margaret 
Bruce Henderson more than two centuries ago, as also a piece 
of a brocade dress that she wore, an old snuff box, an invitation 
to the governor's ball at Richmond a century ago, an old parch- 
ment land grant from Governor Randolph, and several hundred 
letters and papers of her grandfather. Col. John Henderson, 
written between 179U and 1830. 

Mrs. Ella Henderson has a portrait of Andrew Henderson a 
dropleaf table, some chairs, a parchment land grant, and several 
other family papers. 

Mrs. Nannie Miller Vaught owns a massive black walnut side- 
board, a very fine library table, a great roomy sofa, an old settee, 
and a gold broach that belonged to Sallie Henderson Miller. 

Mrs. Hunter Ben Jenkins has Sallie Henderson's silver and 
some pieces of jewelry. There are twelve teaspoons, twelve table- 
spoons, and a massive silver ladle. 

The writer of these sketches has the following relics of his 
Henderson ancestors: An original silhouette miniature of Lieut. 
John Henderson, made in 1784 ; original miniatures of Col. John 
Henderson and Elizabeth Stodghill Henderson, made in 1799 ; 
the old book mentioned before, printed in 1707; Vol. I. of 



ac 






/ 



36 Ancestry and Descendants of 

Proud's History of Pennsylvania, 1797 ; British Album of Verse, 
1793; Map of Virginia printed in 1787; The American Primer, 
first edition, printed at iSTorfolk, in 1803, and used by Sallie 
Henderson when six years old; parchment land grant in 1800, 
being a regrant of 400 acres granted in 1786; several old letters, 
papers, etc. 

A partial list of colleges attended by the descendants of — 

Samuel Henderson. 

Greenville Boys' School, Virginia; Point Pleasant High 
School, Private Schools, etc. 

Col. John Henderson. 

Virginia Schools: Washington and Lee University, Wash- 
ington Female Seminary, Hollins Institute, Greenville 
Boys' School, Mrs. Stuart's School, University College 
of Medicine. 

West Virginia Schools: University of West Virginia, Mar- 
shall College, Maurice Harvey College, Lewisburg Fe- 
male Institute, Parkersburg and Point Pleasant High 
Schools, etc. 

Kerttucky: Millersbui'g Female Institute. 

Tennessee: Vanderbilt University, and the University of 
Nashville. / 

Ohio: Conservatory of Music, Gallipolis High School, etc. 

JIargaret Henderson Vawter. 

Vii-ginia: University of Virginia, Emory and Henry, Miller 
Training School, Randolph-Macon Woman's College, 
Wesleyan Female Institute, Valley Female Seminary, etc., 
and various Western High Schools and Colleges. 



ADDENDUM. 



Since the MS. of this sketch v^^as sent to the printer, it has 
been learned that Audley Harrison Hamilton, Gent., father-in- 
law of James Henderson, never came to America. He is sup- 
posed to have been a brother of Archibald Hamilton, who settled 
in Augusta county, and whose son, Audly, is mentioned by 
Hening in 1758. And it was for him that James Henderson 
named his son Archibald — an unusual name among the Hen- 



Lieut. John Henderson. 87 

dersons. Concerning the Augusta Hamiitons, Waddell's Annals 
says: "Major Andrew Hamilton was born in Augusta county in 
1741. His parents were Archibald and Frances Calhoun Ham- 
ilton, who came to this country from Ireland. Archibald is said 
to have been a descendant of James Hamilton, Earl of Arran, 
who was regent of Scotland during the infancy of Mary Stuart. 
The date of Archibald Hamilton's settlement in Augusta is 
not known. He was probably one of the first to come, and, like 
other early settlers, located on the public domain, without legal 
title to his homestead. In 174:7, however, he received from 
William Beverly, the patentee, a deed for three hundred and 
two acres of land on Christian's creek, in Beverley Manor, for 
the nominal sum of five shillings. He also acquired lands by 
patent from the government. He survived until about the year 
1794. His children were five sons — Audly, John, Andrew (born 
in Augusta in 1741), William and Archibald— and a daughter 
named Lettice." This sketch says that one of these sons "went 
to Kentucky, and was the founder of a wealthy and distin- 
guished family"; and that Andrew removed to South Carolina ( 
in 1765, where he was a neighbor and friend of General Pickens; ' 
that he served in the Eevolution as a major under General j 
Pickens; and after the war was a long time member of the 
South Carolina Legislature; that among his descendants are 
the well-known families of "Simonds and Eavenels of Charles- 
ton, Parkers and Waites of Columbia, Calhouns of South Caro- 
lina and Georgia, and Alstons and Cabells of Virginia." 
According to an old work on British crests, there are over forty 
different crests borne by more than that many families of Hamii- 
tons in Scotland; that there are eighteen by Bruce, and four 
by Audley, in Scotland. As will be seen by the record given in 
the beginning, JIargaret Bruce and Audley Hamilton were of 
gentle hlood, so must have belonged to some one of these families 
of Bruce and Hamilton; but it is impossible to say which ones 
without further records. There are no Harrisons in Scotland, 
but a family of English descent in Ireland by that name, so 
that the name Harrison probably came into the family through 
an intermarriage with it. The given name Audley will likely 
be the surest means of identification should the family research 
ever be carried back to Ireland and Scotland. 



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